1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to surgical instruments, as used for the performance of laproscopic surgery, and, more particularly, to an instrument with an elongate support arm that is pivotable from a location remote from the arm.
2. Background Art
To perform laproscopic surgery, instruments are inserted through discrete openings in the abdominal wall, thereby obviating the need for long incisions with their attendant complications to the patient. To provide the instrument opening, a "nail" with a surrounding sheath is forced through the abdominal wall. With the nail removed, the sheath provides a conduit for the passage of surgical instruments, which may be lasers, forceps, fiber optic cameras, etc. A plurality of instruments may be utilized at the same time through a corresponding number of abdominal openings.
One problem that has been particularly vexatious is the problem of manipulating vessels/tubes or stents during a laproscopic procedure. For example, reconnection of the fallopian tubes after a tubal ligation requires that the separate tube parts be aligned against each other and stabilized for suturing. The insertion of a small tube into the fimbriated end of the fallopian tube is yet another example. In this procedure, useful for Gamete Intro Fallopian Transfer (GIFT), tubal inseminations and the like; the fallopian tube is to be stabilized so as to permit feeding a smaller tube through its abdominal end. At the same time, the smaller tube is best held broadly along its axis, rather than at one point, to facilitate its introduction into the fallopian tube. The sheath defining the abdominal through passage normally has a very small diameter which limits the size of the jaws on instruments normally used to grasp such tubes during such procedures. It is difficult to maintain the alignment of such tubes with conventional laproscopic instruments having small jaws. Heretofore, the only solution to this problem has been to significantly increase the size of the sheath to permit passage of jaws with a more substantial working surface area. However, this solution is undesirable because the larger abdominal opening results in increased healing time, larger incisions and less appealing scars.